Urban on Ryan Day,the Ducks/Bucks Game and the 12th man
“He just has to get through the media and the talk of him not winning big games,” Meyer said. “They are still one of the most talented teams in the nation. They need to find out what happened on defense. The defensive performance was not what I expected. Meyer also addressed Dan Lanning’s decision to place 12 men on the field on the second-to-last play of the game. The extra defender helped force an incomplete pass for Ohio State, and while Oregon received a 5-yard penalty for illegal participation, the move ultimately benefited the Ducks as it drained four precious seconds off the clock (10 to six).
“If that’s true, and he did that, then for 38 years of my career, I’ve been playing checkers,” Meyer said. “I’ve never done that. It’s never even crossed my mind. Ohio State is 12 yards away from kicking a game-winning field goal, and we’re gonna give them five more yards? I’m a checkers guy, then. Have you ever heard of a coach telling his team to practice an intentional 12-man penalty? I went to Eugene in the spring. I spent time with the offensive staff. They are playing chess. That is one hell of a staff. Hats off. That rule will be revisited. That should be a dead ball.”
The NCAA agrees.
On Wednesday, the loophole Lanning exploited to help Oregon defeat Ohio State closed as the NCAA issued a rules interpretation that will allow offenses the option to reset the clock to the pre-snap time if 12 or more defenders participate in a play during the final two minutes of a half. The interpretation will be effective immediately.
“Football is a very dynamic game,” NCAA football secretary rules editor Steve Shaw said in a statement. “Occasionally, there are specific situations when committing a penalty can give a team an advantage. A guiding principle of the NCAA Football Rules Committee is that there should be no benefit when a team commits a penalty. The goal of this in-season interpretation is to eliminate a potential clock advantage for committing a substitution foul and take away any gain for the defense if they violate the substitution rule.”